Drumbeg

Drumbeg lies on the remarkably beautiful Assynt coastal road, the
B869. This single track
road provides a scenic link between Lochinver and
Kylesku, and takes in some of
Scotland's best scenery.

Drumbeg itself lies on the north facing coast of Assynt, looking
out across Eddrachillis Bay to Handa Island and mainland
Sutherland. A viewpoint
with a car park has been constructed at the west end of village and from here
you can take in the magnificent seascapes to the north.

And from the rocky mound opposite the viewpoint, you can gain some
of the best available views of the village (see header picture), along the main
street and taking in the peaks of Quinag to the east.

Drumbeg's origins are vague, though the population of much of the
Highlands was considerably larger than it is today prior to the
clearances of the late
1700s and early 1800s. Like most of Scotland's west coast communities, it would
have relied on the sea for much of its living and for its transport links. It
was not until the end of the 1800s that a road reached here from
Lochinver, en route to the ferry at
Kylesku.

With a population of perhaps 100, Drumbeg is larger than it at
first appears. There has been a village stores in Drumbeg for over a century.
It is located in the centre of the village, not far from the Drumbeg Viewpoint.
It is a well stocked licenced grocer and delicatessen specialising in Scottish
produce and also stocks local arts and crafts, books, maps and guides and
provides light snacks. The village is also home to the Drumbeg Hotel.

One of the best walks in the area links together two of the
traditional "peat roads" used by coastal residents to obtain peat from Assynt's
interior, and in doing so encircles Loch Drumbeg. Starting this walk at the
east end of Drumbeg brings you back to the coast road a little to the west of
the village.

Drumbeg itself has no harbour. However, a side road leading north
from a junction on the B869 half a mile west of the village takes you the short
distance to Culkein Drumbeg. This is an attractive hillside settlement where a
jetty was built at the end of the 1800s in an effort to bring prosperity to the
area.

Most vessels preferred the shelter afforded by nearby
Loch Nedd, so Culkein Drumbeg never took off
as a fishing port. Today the jetty is closed for safety reasons, but the bay
here remains home to a number of small craft.